CORE Diane Barbosa

Justin Fernandes

Chapter 7

WHAT IS A CORE STRATEGY?

It sets the long-term directions for all of your content-related initiatives

Ensures all activities, big or small are working together toward the same future

AN EFFECTIVE CORE STRATEGY IS:

Flexible Aspirational Memorable Motivational Inclusive

Content is a team sport- the key is to take your teams opinions into account.

DEFINING YOUR CORE STRATEGY

Brain Traffic’s Lee Thomas helps define core strategy using a concept he calls “Achieve-Be-Do.”

Achieve Be Do

LINKEDIN

LINKEDIN

LINKEDIN- RECOMMENDATIONS

LINKEDIN-ENDORSEMENTS

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

Once you brainstorm all the Achieve-Be- Do tactics and solutions then ask yourself:

What do these tactics have in common?

What are the business or cultural themes underlying them?

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

What about these tactics or immediate concerns prohibits us from doing better, cooler stuff?

If I didn’t have to do this stuff, what would I like to do with our content instead?

If I had a magic wand, and I could instantly solve these problems, what would I do next?

BEING ASPIRATIONAL

Core strategy shouldn’t be based in today’s reality.

Achieving it should be a stretch for your organization, something to aspire to and build toward.

BRAINSTORMED IDEAS

Your brainstormed ideas should sound less like… Get on Twitter

And more like… We’ll meet our online customers

wherever they are, providing them with the service they deserve, when they need it most

THE MAGIC LAYER

It is where all the unique and differentiating ideas- like the core strategy come from.

It is all about inventions.

Content strategy can’t be done without it.

A FINISHED CORE STRATEGY

Your core strategy can be as short as a sentence– as long as that sentence holds meaning for your whole team.

It can be a graphic with a caption.

The key is to be short, memorable, and focused on your content.

CORE STRATEGY STATEMENT An annotated sentence diagramed to

represent your strategy.

You want to make sure the sentence sounds the way you would normally talk to your peers.

An Example: Curate, an entertaining, online reference

guide that helps stressed-out law students become successful practicing attorneys.